I spent the day at UNC
I picked up Joe Tipton around 11:00 AM to make the 20-minute trip up I-40 to Chapel Hill. We had this day on the books for a couple of weeks now, a day with the UNC basketball program.
First on the docket was a meeting with the staff. The back drop was Monterray’s, a Mexican grill in Chapel Hill. Joe and I showed up about five minutes early; we got a table for seven. The waitress brought us our chips and salsa, and our water.
UNC’s coaches started to trickle in. First, it was Sean May and Director of Recruiting Pat Sullivan. Then Brad Frederick walked in with Director of Basketball Operations Eric Hoots and Director of Player Development Jackie Manuel. The seven of us sat down, told a couple of quick jokes, and pulled out our menus.
The waitress started with Manuel, a small forward from Florida who graduated from North Carolina in 2005. Manuel started 85 career games, scored 785 career points, and was a starter for the 2005 national championship team. Joe was next, and then Hoots. Hoots is the only person on staff who did not play at UNC. However, he did graduate from UNC in 2004, where he was head manager. Hoots was on Roy Williams’s staff for all 17 seasons, where he moved his way up. There is not a thing that goes on in the UNC program that Hoots does not know about.
Next, it was Sean May. The top-ten recruit out of Bloomington, Indiana, who chose UNC over Indiana. Like Manuel, May was a starter for the 2005 national championship team. May scored 26 points and grabbed ten rebounds in that championship win. May was the 13th pick of the 2005 NBA Draft. Across the table from May was Brad Frederick. Frederick, whose dad was the Athletic Director at Kansas for 14 years, started his UNC playing career on the JV team. Frederick was called up to the varsity as a sophomore and won 86 games earning one start his senior season.
Pat Sullivan graduated from UNC in 1995; he started 21 career games, scored 478 career points, and won a national championship in 1993. Lastly, it was me. I ordered the beef burrito.
Monterrey’s
The food came out quickly, but it was just enough time for the conversation to get started. With seven people around two six-seater rectangle tables pulled together, there were sub-conversations starting while everyone would chime in on some over-arching topics.
Everyone at the table had travel plans this weekend, so Hurricane Ian was a consistent topic. There were also conversations about the various teams each coach played on. We covered the 2022-23 team, their individual recruitments, the current recruiting landscape, upcoming renovations, and everything in between.
Before we knew it, we had been there for an hour and a half.
UNC’s facilities
After leaving Monterray’s, we met back at the Dean Dome. Joe and I hopped in my car and drove the few miles to the Dean E. Smith Center. Sean May met Joe and me in the parking lot. The offices were in the middle of some upgrades. When we arrived, they were showing off their new LED lights that showcased the UNC x Jordan Brand logo. A group gathered around as the Carolina blue light illuminated the room.
We went through the offices, the locker room, the training and weight rooms, and all of the offices. UNC has a historical museum that is across the way from the practice court. May took us through the museum with a guided tour. It was an interesting part as there were fans in there also doing the tour. When Sean May’s face popped up on the screen, the fans, this group was from Iowa, were giddy to look over and see May.
It was an impressive display of history. Their draft picks were lining the hallways. Illustrations with the years their championships, both NCAA and ACC everywhere. Joe and I took pictures in front of their wall of exclusive UNC Jordan edition shoes. Every turn, every nook had a piece of history, each as impressive as the last.
Hubert Davis
The walk around the facilities ended in head coach Hubert Davis’ office. Originally practice was at three but had been pushed back to four. So our time with Davis was not going to be so pressed.
Davis greeted Joe and me at the door of his office. It was a quick joke, a handshake and a hug, and the coach started to talk about his extensive shoe collection. Davis is an admitted fan of the low-top Jordan 1s. He had them in numerous colorways among his extensive collection.
Joe and I joined Davis on his leather couches. The couches surrounded a wooden table. The table was a gift from Roy Williams, made from the court from the 2017 national championship. After about 15 to 20 minutes of the three of us sitting and just talking, Joe pulled out his phone to start his exclusive one-on-one. It was an easy conversation, Davis was wide open, and Joe held court with great questions and topics (I’m very excited for him to transcribe this conversation and see what kind of content he puts together).
We were in Davis’ office until about five or ten minutes before the start of practice. Jackie Manuel came to get us from the office and took us to the court.
UNC’s second official practice
UNC is labeled by many as the preseason No. 1 team in the country. They return four starters from a team that made a run to the NCAA Tournament finals. Armando Bacot and Caleb Love are both on pre-season All-American teams. The players trickled in; first was freshman Tyler Nickel and junior RJ Davis, then it was sophomore D’Marco Dunn and junior Caleb Love.
The team managers were already in the Deam Dome. They would pair off with players as they walked in and start rebounding for them. The remainder of the team continued to walk in. Things got started around 4:15, so for 15 minutes, there was a myriad of laughs, dribble drills, free throws, and jumpers shot.
There was an intensity throughout practice. It was something that Davis demanded from the start. They went through some shell drills and then full-court shadow work. The team transitioned from two on two to three on three and up to five on five. All the while, Davis continued to demand effort. Hoots and Manuel sat with us through the practice.
The last part of the workout was five-on-five, controlled gameplay. Davis ended practice with a talk to the team for around ten minutes. He made his goal clear; he did not plan to walk off the floor during his final game of the season with a loss.
Davis dismissed the team. Hoots went to go talk with Garrison Brooks, who was back on campus, and Manuel to talk with some players. Sean May came to find Joe and me. After about a five-minute talk, we walked through the offices to say goodbye to everyone and headed back to the parking lot. My day at UNC was complete.